The Apostle Paul and His Philippian Partners 2
David W Palmer
Yesterday, we looked at the tumultuous beginning of the church Paul and Silas planted at Philippi. And we saw that despite the overwhelming opposition to their apostolic ministry, God still worked with them, and for them, to establish a strong and enduring church.
We noted that God created a lasting friendship and affiliation between the founding members and Paul that developed into an exemplary church-missionary partnership. We also briefly began looking at the benefits this allowed God to bring to this amazing church. Today, we continue learning from the model partner letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians.
What Paul wrote next in his letter to his partners is crucially important. This is far more vital, and of eternally more significance, than a letter of mere gratitude and gushing sentiment. This is a contract document of great importance; it is a partnership covenant template for all ministries for all time:
(Philippians 1:7 APE) “For it is right for me to think in this way about all of you, because you have been placed in my heart while I have been in my chains and in my defense for the truth of The Gospel, because you are my partners in grace.”
Paul explained that through their partnership, they mutually shared grace from God. In today’s “religious” climate, what he said here may sound like a nice platitudinous phrase. But when we think about the supernatural power and grace this church had witnessed working in and through the apostle Paul, this takes on a whole new meaning.
“You are my partners in grace.” For us to fully grasp and apply this today, we first note that in the above verse, Paul mentions “chains” and the “defense … of the gospel.” With hindsight through the lens of church history, we—along with most translators—probably think immediately of Paul’s “chains” as referring to his incarceration in Rome at the time of writing this letter. But I’m sure his Philippian partners had something of far greater personal impact in mind when they thought of Paul in prison and defending the gospel. Perhaps, the Message Bible makes this clearer for us:
(Philippians 1:7 MSG) “It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God.
